Bride of Didymus
by Delia Lavender
Summary: King Jareth has given "Princess Leia" a new name, a new title and a new husband. But what will Sarah think? After all, Leia was HER dog, even though she was wished-away by Horrid Gwen, Sarah's nasty, selfish daughter. But can Sarah retrieve her pet? And can Leia forget her first love, Wishbone? Follows "Marblecake" and will be completed by "Following the Dog Star". Rated T.


**BRIDE OF DIDYMUS**

By Delia Lavender

(I do not own "Labyrinth", nor do I own "Star Wars". I

only write for fun, not for profit.)

This is a continuation of my earlier story "Marblecake"

"Damn it, Jareth...where is my dog?!"

Nothing. The Underground was silent.

"You can't get away with this, Goblin King. You're breaking the rules...show yourself! Now!"

He appeared in a flash of glitter, directly behind her. She jumped as he reached forward, his gloved hand touching her shoulder.

"Boo," said the Goblin King, smirking.

She shook his hand off, then turned to face him.

"What do you think you're doing? I never wished Leia away..."

"No, sweet Sarah, but your daughter _did_."

She paused, her lips quivering slightly "I realize that, but Leia is still my dog. Gwen hadn't the right or the power to wish her away..."

"But she did," Jareth interrupted "You gave Marblecake…excuse me... _ **Leia**_ to Gwen, remember? After you got Wishbone."

"How do you know all this?"

"You don't think I've been watching?" he spat, mouth twisting bitterly, eyes narrowing "I've been watching you since you left the Labyrinth! All through your lunacy with Gwen's father, I was watching. How do you think I felt, watching you degrade yourself with that Aboveground low-life? You...the Labyrinth's Champion! I would have made you a queen..."

"Shut up, Jareth! What do you know about me...about what I want or need?"

"I know more than Kevin did."

"But Kevin isn't the subject, here! The subject is my dog. You're right...I shouldn't have left her with Gwen. I didn't mean to give Leia up - I thought I could teach Gwen about responsibility and..."

"You left a lovely dog with Horrid Gwen...you gave Gwen the right to wish her away, to _me_. It's too late now...you can't take your daughter's wish back, any more than you could take back your own, when you wished-away Toby."

"It can't be too late!" exclaimed Sarah. She looked at him, her expression desperately stubborn "She's a dog, not a child. What do you want, Jareth? You want me to run your Labyrinth, again? Well, this time I can't! I've got Horrid...er...Gwen to consider. You're right...Gwen _is_ horrid, but who does she have, besides me? I haven't heard from her father in years. Can't you just give me Leia, please? What use do you have for a dog, anyway? Where did you put her?

The Goblin King half turned away. He pointed beyond some spindly trees and a picture appeared in the near distance, hovering in the air. It was as it had been years earlier, when Sarah had wished-away her baby brother, a panorama in mist, showing her the fate of her forfeited loved-one.

"I _did_ have a use for her, Sarah. And I've left her in the best of...paws. You should be grateful to me. She's with someone you love."

The air shimmered like a fiery opal, then a clear image formed, showing Sir Didymus flying through the air, one gauntleted paw clutching a vine, his free arm sweeping Leia up from the slippery rock she stood on.

"I will save you, beautiful maiden…!" he yowled.

Sarah smiled a little, remembering how Didymus had shouted almost the same words to _her_ , when she'd been the one menaced by the vaporous, noxious waters of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

"Well...he didn't swing on a vine for _me_!" she thought to herself.

The image clouded, then grew clear again. Sir Didymus had carried Leia safely to the shore. He swept off his blue cap, bowing deeply to her.

A straggly bird seized the cap's yellow feather, tearing it from the fabric and hopping rapidly away with it. Sir Didymus didn't seem to notice.

Leia was busy fighting her conical hat, shoving it up and away from her eyes, disengaging herself from its clinging pink veil.

"Lady Marblecake," said Sir Didymus "I've been informed of your arrival, and you have my deepest apologies for making you wait on that rock. Your beauty stunned me, for well over a minute. Never would I have made a lady like you wait, even for an instant, were I not bedazzled by your sleek dark head, stunned by the perfect, swirling patterns of your soft, velvety fur, enthralled by the lustrous depths of your black, button eyes..."

Poor Leia was still struggling with her veil, when the image faded.

Jareth turned back to Sarah "Well?" he said, putting his hands on his hips "You know that Didymus never lies. He is completely besotted with her. I had arranged his previous marriage, to Lady Pompadour of Pomerania, but he never responded to her - not the way he has to Marblecake..."

"He's married...to Lady Pompadour? But then, why would you..."

"Lady Pompadour was drowned in a flood - along with two of her pups – shortly before Sir Didymus met you. Three of his oldest pups are now officers in my goblin army".

"Oh, Jareth! I'm sorry for Didymus...really, I am...but still, you can't just hand Leia over..."

"She's now Lady Marblecake. Soon to be Lady Didymus".

"Marblecake! Ridiculous! Her name is..."

"Princess Leia. I know she was named for a mighty, fictional heroine of the Aboveground, but couldn't you have been a little more original?"

"And you? You named her for a piece of cake!" Sarah said, her face growing pink with anger.

"Didn't you see her, Sarah, sitting up with Sir Didymus, waving her little paws...she _does_ look like a very-animated piece of marble cake!"

"Did you even **ask** her what she wanted? Or did you just leave her on that rock in the middle of...the...the bog...oh my God! The stench, Jareth! How could you do that to her? The Bog of Eternal Stench! She must be..."

"I put a glamor on her, Sarah...she can't smell the stench, any more than Didymus can. As for asking Leia what she wanted, I _did_ ask: but the only reply I got from her was 'mommy'".

Sarah's face crumpled. Tears flowed from her eyes.

"You are cruel, Jareth...so cruel."

"No more so than you." said Jareth, coldly.

Lady Marblecake of Chihuahua paused over her wedding guest list. Most of the invited guests were unknown to her, but a daughter of Didymus was helping her immensely. And things were progressing more smoothly, now that her vocabulary had improved.

"Lady Abby of Cairn...she's your cousin isn't she, Lady Fuzzface?"

"Yes, my lady Marblecake. She looks a little like me, except she has a beard."

"I look forward to meeting her. But kindly remind me, dear...who is Sir Luke de Viszla?"

"He was one of my father's mentors, my lady. My father thinks very highly of him. He will attend the service with his consort, Princess Aspen of Boxer-Pit".

"Oh my...a princess! I was a princess, too, in the Aboveground."

"Indeed you were, my lady, until King Jareth gave you a new title and a new position in life. I can scarcely imagine it...the king actually held you in his hands! What an honor! And he's given my father this grand new house, with a puppy-biscuit shingled roof...what a sign of favor!" Lady Fuzzface wiped around her red, furry eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief. She had inherited her father's mustache and her father's sentimentality. Her face was always wet and her mustache drenched. She was the only one of Lady Pompadour's children to remain unmarried. She noisily blew her nose, making a sound similar to the geese who frequently visited the bog, searching for worms and fairies to eat.

"He is definitely coming to the wedding, the king? Have you heard anything more of Lady Sarah? What of my...my mistress, Gwen? And what of my old play-mate, Wishbone?"

"They are certainly on the guest-list, my lady Marblecake, although I've heard that negotiations are still underway. I, myself, am looking forward to meeting your handsome puppy-hood companion, Wishbone."

Lady Fuzzface's fluffy face fur blushed a deeper red with emotion "You know, there's a rumor that my father and the king plan to knight your Wishbone. If he is as stalwart as you say..."

"Oh yes, sweet Fuzzface...he is," and with that, Lady

Marblecake turned away from her step-daughter "I think I'll take a nap, now. You should take one, too, Lady Fuzzface. We've been studying this list for hours. Perhaps there's a bone in the cupboard."

"I will check, my lady." said Fuzzface as she departed, courtesying once, as was proper.

Leia sighed.

Lady Marblecake...she was Lady Marblecake, now. She had great hopes for the king's negotiations with her mommy, Lady Sarah. Oh, how she missed mommy! The kindness in her eyes, the gentleness with which she had trained her…

But how could she forget the hardness of Sarah's life, the wicked, spoiled demands of her daughter, Gwen?

Leia had been a puppy when Lady Sarah had brought her home. She had seen all too little of Sarah, after that. Sarah always had to work...Sarah always had "extra shifts" imposed on her. Sarah had done it to "improve their lot in life", as she'd often explained to Gwen.

But Mistress Gwen had never appreciated it. She had demanded visits to an expensive hair salon - to tame her unruly orange curls and to make them fashionable - while mommy's own hair had been neglected, growing more brittle and gray as Leia watched.

Mistress Gwen had never wanted Leia, of that she was certain. Mistress Gwen had only admired white, bitchy-tempered poodles...that was the _real_ reason Leia had found herself wished-away. Gwen had seen a small poodle in a pet store window and, when Leia had spilled water from her water-dish, Gwen had...

Leia didn't want to think about it, anymore. She wanted to think of other possibilities, of what could happen if Lady Sarah came to terms with King Jareth.

Mommy Sarah would be a queen...she would live in the palace! An oubliette could be cleaned and decorated for Horrid Gwen - although Leia doubted that Sarah would agree to put her there. Wishbone would become a knight…

Oh, Wishbone…

How Leia missed him! How handsome he was, an exotic mix of Shih Tzu and black English Labrador! He was big, twenty-five pounds, and his long, black, luxurious fur was streaked liberally with white, making him appear almost slate blue-gray in certain lights.

A twenty-five pounder...that was the rub. He was too big to ever be Leia's mate. Although she often wondered how on earth his parents had managed it.

But he was so brave! Why, when he was only a puppy, Wishbone had driven off an intruder! A crazy human, dressed only in boxer shorts and a pair of dingy socks, had forced his way inside when Sarah had opened the door, mistaking him for the pizza delivery boy. Wishbone had run right up to the man...biting his ankle, clawing at his shins, tearing away his boxers when he turned his back.

A patrolman had been nearby, and he arrested the naked, bleeding intruder as he tried to run away. The intruder had gone to jail and the local Police Department had awarded Wishbone a metal. The arresting officer had held Wishbone during the short ceremony, and Lady Sarah had held Leia. Wishbone had smiled proudly up at them, as they tied the metal's ribbon around his neck...

She had told Sir Didymus about Wishbone's valor, and she was certain that Lady Sarah had informed the king.

So Wishbone was a hero: he would receive a hero's acknowledgement, a hero's reward, in the Underground. Maybe he would marry Lady Fuzzface, who was bigger than Leia and would give him many puppies.

Many beautiful, exotic-looking puppies.

Leia sighed, again.

Despite her heartache, she knew that she loved Sir Didymus. Sir Didymus was the right mate, for her. He adored her, and would make her an excellent husband.

They would have puppies themselves, someday, and they would make a large, extended family that would include his children from Lady Pompadour. They would all be happy together.

And Wishbone would become a dashing officer in the Goblin King's Honor Guard!

But everything depended on Lady Sarah. Hadn't she struggled long enough? Did she know in which direction her best interests lay? Could she overcome her pride long enough to acknowledge her secret love for King Jareth?

Oh, Leia knew all about it. How many times had she seen Mommy Sarah gazing wistfully at a photo of the Aboveground singer, David Bowie? She kept several photos of him hidden away under her mattress. Leia knew that the singer was human and, being mortal, that he had died. But she had also noticed his incredible resemblance to the Goblin King.

How she hoped that Lady Sarah and King Jareth would finally get a room. That they would finally be able to work through their differences!

Leia could imagine many explosions - but much happiness - in their mutual future.

But, she noted, neither humans nor fay always knew what was good for them...unlike dogs.

She curled up on her canopied dog bed - all pink satin and burgundy-colored velvet - and went to sleep.

 **THE END**


End file.
